The footsteps were getting nearer and nearer. I bit my tongue as it poked between my teeth, concentrating for my life.

When the door opened I fell through it like a drowning man into a life boat, hooking it closed behind me with my foot. I kept low as I listened to the boots go past the door, and let out the breath I'd been holding.

I rose gingerly to my feet, throwing the discarded lock to one side, thanking whichever god was the most popular on earth at the moment that the soldiers were all idiots, and hadn't noticed one of the cell doors was ajar.

I turned to the room I had found myself in, and was surprised to not find an inhospitable cell meeting my eyes. Instead, there was a carpet laid across the floor, beginning several metres from the door, curtains hung around windows showing nothing but blue sky, and a king sized bed in pride of place.

There was another door off to my left which I presumed led to a bathroom. I limped across to the bed, only realising now I had been injured in my fall down the chute, and my leg was bleeding quite profusely.

I flopped down onto the bed, tearing a strip of my shirt off and wrapping it around my leg. The shirt seemed to be infused with dirt, but it wasn't like I was going to permanently die from an infection.

I knew I couldn't stay here for any longer than was necessary. The Master would already be hunting me, and there's no easier prey to capture than a stationary one. But it was only once I'd stood up I realised how quite it was.

I shivered. I didn't like silence. It was too much like stepping into the darkness again. Because silence doesn't mean that there's nothing chasing you, it just means whatever is chasing you is very good at keeping quiet.

I cocked my head to the side, listening intently. I was sure I had heard the pipes when I'd come in. I'd heard the water rushing through them. I frowned suddenly, my eyes narrowing. There aren't any water pipes in this part of this ship. My head turned slowly, almost comically, towards the door that led into the bathroom. From beneath said door I could see movement, disrupting the light.

I was gone in a second, well before the door began to open, pressing myself to the wall behind it. I was well aware I had no weapons on my side, only my training which, I figured, was almost certainly better than the other guy's.

A tall, healthy looking man stepped through the door. He wore a pair of soldier's uniform trousers, but no shirt. I allowed him to get two metres away from the bathroom door before I reacted. I leapt forward, striking at the base of his neck, in what should have been a knockout blow.

But, for whatever reason, he moved slightly to the left at the last second, my blow still bringing him down, but not even dazing him enough to stop him rolling out of the way of a kick that would have sent his head crashing to the floor.

We were facing each other across the room. He got slowly to his feet, one hand grasping the back of his neck where my punch had landed. Confusion was written across his face. Obviously, no one had been told they'd be getting a visit from Jackie-boy today.

I ran my eyes up and down his body, paused for a second, and then leered at him, inwardly grinning as the man in front of me went bright red, and launched himself across the room at me, completely uncoordinated.

I blocked his blows easily, and felt the Time Agent in me rising. I'd been unable to fight for so long the training within me was shouting at me to let it all out. I mentally paused, blocking a punch the soldier threw at me, sending one of my own back, making him tumble backwards over the bed. Why the hell shouldn't I let my anger go? After all, I'd lost count of the number of times I'd died, and this man wasn't about to help me. He was just another stupid human who didn't fight for what he believed in.

I crossed the room, and leapt across the bed, landing on the man's back. He was half off the floor when I connected, and I sent him back to the carpet, winded. I rolled off him, and crouched against the wall, waiting for him to rise.

Instead, he crawled backwards to the bed, and used it to haul himself up. He held out a hand, palm facing me.

"Please. Don't."

I narrowed my eyes. "Pardon?"

The man in front of me swallowed, lower lip trembling. "Please. You win. Don't kill me."

I growled at him, threateningly. He yelped, even though I hadn't even moved, and scrambled back across the bed, away from me.

I let him get half way across the floor before I made my move, bracing myself against the wall and flying across the room, bringing him down and pinning him to the floor.

"How many times do you think I've said that, huh?" I wrenched an arm behind his back. "How many times have I asked not to die?" I pinned his other arm to the floor with my knee. "How many times…" I gripped the back of his neck with my free hand. "Have I died?"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry!" He was crying now, but I found my self uncaring. All the hate, the pain, the rage, was spilling out of me; the Time Agent was controlling.

"Call yourself a soldier?" I lifted his head with the hand on his neck and smashed it into the floor, shifting him forward slightly so his head bounced off the solid concrete, as opposed to the soft carpet.

A few more of those and he was limp. I rolled off him, collapsing into the carpet, my own tears now running down my cheeks.

I glanced over at the man who was no longer breathing. His face was turned towards me, rivulets of blood careening down his face. I shifted closer, pulling an access card from his pocket. I could only hope this would get me where I needed to go.

I glanced down at myself. To add to the dirt and various other bodily fluids my clothes had carried for months, they were now covered in this soldier's blood. I grimaced, hoping that there was a change of clothes in the bathroom.

I pulled myself up, sighing, and dismissing the body beneath me as something that wasn't needed for survival.

The bathroom was well furnished, with a toilet and shower, accompanied by a marble basin, embedded into the floor, covering more than half of the large room. I frowned, still in the door way, surprised that the Master would allow the common soldier these comforts.

Moving into the bathroom, I toyed with the idea of having a long soak, and damn the Master. The choice was taken from me, however, as I moved towards the basin, and something heavy came down on my head, and the world went dark.